No Old Firm occasion is complete without its share of controversy and verbal jousting, and today's derby victory by Rangers supplied both in spades. This one ended with complaints from the Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, over the performance of the referee, with Rangers' Walter Smith responding that undue pressure was exerted on the official by the Parkhead club before a ball was kicked.

Lennon had issued a veiled warning to the referee, Willie Collum, who was taking charge of his first Glasgow derby, on Friday. Sadly for Celtic's manager, Collum proved the main post-match discussion point after his decision to award Rangers a dubious second-half penalty, which Kenny Miller scored to earn a 3-1 lead.

"It looked soft to me," Lennon said of the penalty, given after Kirk Broadfoot tumbled over the Celtic defender Daniel Majstorovic. "If you look at him [Collum], I'm not sure he saw it so I don't know why he has given it. He has a lot of questions to answer."

Lennon was riled that the Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch, already on a booking at that juncture, was not dismissed for a challenge on Georgios Samaras. "I want to know why McCulloch was still on the pitch after a blatant obstruction when we were breaking," Celtic's manager added. "I'm not going to go on about the referee because I have my own problems regarding the team but you have to get the big decisions right and there's another big decision that has gone against us. I will be asking for an explanation."

Smith believed the home side's concentration on the referee in the preamble to today's game was unwarranted. In what is merely their latest battle with the Scottish Football Association, Celtic had written to complain about the performance of the officials during last weekend's win at Dundee United, an issue which became public knowledge during the build-up to yesterday's encounter.

"There was unfair pressure on Willie Collum, there's not any doubt about that," the Rangers manager said. "That is two out of the last three Old Firm games in which the referee has been placed under unfair pressure before the start of the game. We have got to stop and have a look at what is happening, instead of blaming officials. If you sit down and look at it, the majority of times the better team wins an Old Firm game."

Lennon, in reply to the suggestion that the focus was on Collum, said: "Probably, but it is a big game. Whoever refereed the game was going to be under the spotlight anyway. I thought he got a couple of big decisions wrong. I thought McCulloch should have gone for the one on Samaras, it was a second yellow and Rangers should have been down to 10 men for the second half."

Michel Platini, a surprise visitor to Celtic Park for his first taste of the derby, left the stadium long before full-time. Uefa's president could have encountered serious traffic congestion, given the thousands of home fans who had the same idea. While the penalty decision was at best debatable, – Broadfoot clearly embellished the situation – Rangers were the better team by a considerable margin during the second period.

Collum was first called into action within a minute, booking Anthony Stokes for a wild lunge on Sasa Papac. It is no exaggeration to say the colour of the card could and maybe should have been different.

The remainder of the first half was drab, with Gary Hooper's opener for Celtic an all too rare moment of goalmouth action. The striker pounced after Steven Whittaker had accidentally diverted a corner from the terrific Ki Sung-yueng into his path. There was an element of fortune about the Rangers equaliser, with the ball flying off Kyle Lafferty's thigh and subsequently the midrift of Celtic's Glenn Loovens before entering the net. The bizarre intervention prompted Rangers' latest comeback – the fifth time in nine SPL games they have overturned an opposition advantage to win the game – with Miller volleying home from 14 yards after a mix-up in Lennon's defence. The Celtic manager rightly lamented "inexperienced mistakes from experienced players" later.

Miller's penalty took his tally to seven goals in 11 Old Firm games since he re-signed at Ibrox. Smith had presided over the 200th game in his second tenure at Rangers and his 50th match overall against Celtic.

"There are a lot of games to be played but I am delighted by the position we are in," said Smith, whose team have edged three points in front of their old adversaries.

From the moment Miller's shot from 12 yards flew beyond Fraser Forster, Celtic never demonstrated attacking touch which hinted even one goal in response would be forthcoming. Platini, a man who was once the epitome of football creativity, could not have approved.

About this article

Celtic 1-3 Rangers | Scottish Premier League match report

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 16.58 EDT on Sunday 24 October 2010.
A version appeared on p8 of the Sport section of the Guardian
on Sunday 24 October 2010.
It was last modified at 09.11 EDT on Tuesday 3 June 2014.
It was first published at 09.59 EDT on Sunday 24 October 2010.